CUCC Weekly eNews

(Not) Widely Known Jennifer Brownell July 11, 2018 "So his brothers said to Jesus, 'Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.'" - John 7:3-4 At the silent vigil, we are to walk three times in silence around a building. Inside people who we believe are not criminals are being detained as if they are. We are instructed to let each footfall be a prayer of compassion for those inside, for their children who are far away. We are invited to maintain total silence for an hour. Left, right, left, right. A single gong sounds a single note. A woman smiles silently as she passes out crackers and water in little paper cups. Without a sound, a few people wave marker-on-cardboard signs at a passing car or two. A couple of mimes, negotiating a selfie with an adorable baby in a plaid hat. I notice these things ...

         It seems like I am constantly reminding my children to "be kind" to one another. When I hear screams from the playroom, and "smack" I know that my daughter has slapped her brother. Then there is an about-face, and I hear quick footsteps zipping down the hall and finally an exasperated little boy asking me, "Mommy! Why is Quinn so mean?!?” (The woes of sibling life!)          As we know, empathy is learned in infancy and throughout early childhood. Developmental Psychologist Dr. Lawrence Kutner reminds us that, "By the time a child is about four years old, she begins to associate her emotions with the feelings of others. We do not expect 3-year-olds to understand how the things they say affect other people’s emotions. They are not empathic in the way adults or even well-adjusted [5]-6-year-olds are." 1          Quinn is 3. She is a sweet, brave and a very kind child, but ...

THANK YOU Laura Upchurch for all your years of coordinating the Wright Center Meals.  We hope you have a marvelous time on your new adventures and will be thinking of you and praying for you on your travels. We welcome Porter Bell as the new Wright Center Meal Coordinator.  Please support this meaningful and wonderful ministry by contacting Porter at cporterbell@gmail.com and volunteering to help out either making a food dish or serving the meal at the Wright Center.

The CUCC Youth Group had a beautiful BYC week in the North Carolina Mountains. We celebrated that Creation is God’s story, my story, and our story of wonder, chaos and mystery. Join us for worship on August 12 as we share our learnings and continue the story together.

  Lectionary for the Week of July 15, 2018 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost - Green 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24 or Amos 7:7-15; Psalm 85:8-13; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29

Sunday  07/15          9:00am Nursery provided    9:00am  T aizé Worship – Sanctuary    9:00am   Religious Education Ministry Meeting - Hoffmann Room     9:30am   Adult Monday Morning Bible Study - Bradow Room 1 0:30am Worship Service   - Sanctuary 10:45am Children’s Sunday School - Sunday School Room 10:45am Youth Sunday School -   Youth Room 11:45am Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall 12:00pm Deacons/Caring Committee Training - Hoffmann Room     4:00pm Covenant Community - Bradow Room                  Wright Center Meal      Monday 07/16   11:30am Caring Committee - Pilgrim House 12:15pm Monday Lunch Group - Hoffmann Room   6:30pm Church Council Meeting - Hoffmann Room     Tuesday 07/17   10:00am Off...

Compost your paperboard berry box Thank you, Marty and Bill, for asking. Recycle?  NO .      The paperboard is of lower quality than that which is acceptable for recycling by the City of Raleigh. Compost?  YES .      FoodFWD, our composting company, is glad to take the paperboard berry boxes.  Not plastic, though. Landfill?  No need - put them in the compost. Send your CUCC sorting questions to Jane Smith smithjeg@mindspring.com. Justice in a Changing Climate Task Force

Please continue to pray for our youth and youth leaders at BYC.  They will return on Friday, July 6.  Pray for a safe return. We all look forward to hearing about their life-changing adventures.

Love Your Nature As Yourself, by Rev. Molly Baskette, July 3, 2018 "And the second [commandment] is like it: love your neighbor as yourself." - Matthew 22:39 As we move into the heat and joy of summer, you may not be headed to church camp, but here's a little church camp come to you.  At the UCC church camp I grew up at (shout out: Silver Lake in western Connecticut!), we had three loves we lived by: Love God Love your neighbor Love yourself ...in that order. I suspect that some of us have the hardest time with the third love. What if we pulled a little Letterman and changed number two into:  love your NATURE as yourself? Genetics has determined a good bit of who we are. And developmental psychology has proven the concept of temperament: each of us has a specific personality we were born with. We can tame certain parts of ourselves. We can learn how to behave in more socially acceptable ways. But to a degree, we are who we are. Jesus said the second-m...

Lectionary for the Week of July 8, 2018 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - Green 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48 or Ezekiel 2:1-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13

Sunday   07/08     9:00am Nursery provided     9:00am  T aizé Worship – Sanctuary     9:30am   Adult Monday Morning Bible Study - Bradow Room     9:30am Choir Practice - Sanctuary 1 0:30am Worship Service   - Sanctuary 10:45am Children’s Sunday School - Sunday School Room 10:45am Youth Sunday School -   Youth Room 11:45am Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall 11:45am P2eee - Fellowship Hall 12:00pm Community Outreach Ministry Meeting - Hoffmann Room 12:00pm Economic Justice Task Force Meeting - Library   4:00pm Covenant Community - Bradow Room      Monday 07/09   11:30am Caring Committee - Pilgrim House 12:15pm Monday Lunch Group - Hoffmann Room   6:30pm Church Council Meeting - Hoffmann Room     Tuesday 07/10   10:00am Office Staff Meeting - Pilgrim House    ...